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by Sericea
Summary: Oliver can't accept Roy's choice to leave. Spoilers for Arrow 3x19 Broken Arrow.


Author's Note: Even though Broken Arrow was a great episode, I can't accept that Oliver would just let Roy leave after everything that happened.

* * *

Oliver stared out the window as Digg drove him back to Verdant. Ray had picked up Felicity after they met Roy so the car was unusually silent.

"What are you thinking, Oliver?" There was concern in Digg's voice, but also wariness, as though he expected Oliver to do something stupid in the next few seconds.

"I'm not thinking about jumping out of a moving car, if that's what you're worried about." Digg exhaled in a way might have been laughter any other day, but he still waited for an actual response.

"This was not the way to fix things," Oliver finally said. Digg started to reply but Oliver cut him off. "You don't need to defend it. It was a good plan, something I might have done. That alone should tell you it's a bad idea, especially after the lectures on letting people help me. So was it bad advice to begin with or does Roy somehow not deserve help?"

"You're wrong on both points. Roy made decision on his own and we helped him. He had a right to make that choice," Digg replied calmly. From the way it sounded, Digg had practiced this speech several times.

"His choice? He's not in a place to make a choice. You didn't visit him in prison, Digg. His eyes were dead. I haven't seen that look since I rescued him from The Savior. He thought he belonged there and he didn't care if he lived or died. If he wanted to kill himself, would you have handed him a loaded gun and told him it was his choice? The plan was dangerous and we all know it could have ended with us burying Roy. Don't try to paint a half-hearted suicide attempt as a sacrifice."

Digg's tightening grip on the steering and the twitch in his jaw told Oliver that Digg knew he was right. He pressed his advantage. "You, Felicity, and even Roy keep pointing out that we're a team and you're right. We don't do well running off on our own. Look at Thea and Malcom, my battle with Ra's, and even when Roy ran away after the Mirakuru. We work better together. We need each other. I don't want Roy to disappear and spend the rest of my life wondering where his body is or for him come back as our enemy. He has things he needs to work out, but he should to do them here."

Digg was silent for a moment and sighed as they pulled up to the currently deserted Verdant. "Okay," he said. "What do you want me to do?"

"All I need is for you to let me out here and make sure I'm not being followed in case Lance is still trying to prove a point."

Digg nodded and put the car in park. Oliver reached for the door handle. "Oliver?" Oliver didn't move, waiting for whatever Digg was going to say, "Be careful and don't do anything stupid."

Oliver gave Digg what he hoped was a reassuring smile and got out of the car, zipping his jacket and digging out the keys to his bike. As he pulled out of the parking lot, already thinking about how to find Roy. He had headed in the direction of Blüdhaven when he left and he had gone there before. As Oliver accelerated, he found himself wishing for the more powerful bike he rode as the Arrow, but that was over. The Arrow was dead, as far as the world knew, and his bike was probably sitting in a police impound lot somewhere. He wondered how long it would take before he could think about his former identity without feeling like someone had punched him in the stomach.

He took a curve a little too fast and veered dangerously close to a mini-van. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to focus, and eased up on the speed a bit. Roy drove fast, but Oliver's bike should catch his car easily. He didn't want someone to have to tell Thea he was dead before he told her Roy was alive.

It occurred to him that it might be good to have a strategy when he caught Roy. Most of his strategies for stopped a car involved property damage and injury. Not the best way to handle this situation.

As it turned out, a strategy for stopping him wasn't necessary. Eventually, he saw a gas station with a familiar red car parking in front. He didn't see Roy, but the shelving blocked his view. All he could to do was wait.

When Roy came out a few minutes later, Oliver was leaning against his car. Roy was carrying a cup of coffee and a burrito.

"'Don't abandon me,'" Oliver said. Roy looked confused. "That's what you said to me the night you thought you killed Sara. 'Don't abandon me-'

"And you said, 'Never,'" Roy finished. "This is different. This isn't you abandoning me. This is me choosing to leave. Don't make this harder."

"You're hurting and confused. You just escaped prison in a body bag. Everything around us is falling apart. You're not thinking straight. If I let you leave like this, it's the same as abandoning you."

"I'm dead, Oliver. I can't go back to Starling City."

"It hasn't stopped Malcolm. We can keep you under the radar for a while, until the heat dies, then we'll deal with it."

Something flashed in Roy's eyes and Oliver knew he was getting through. "You can still find ways to make amends for happened, Roy, but all you're doing now is hurting yourself and everyone who cares about you. Thea needs you. I need you. You're family, Roy. Let us help you deal with this."

Now the pain and longing in his eyes was unmistakable, but he still needed a push.

"Do you remember what I asked you when we got back to the cave and you found out the truth of what happened?"

Roy nodded. "'Do you trust me?'"

"And you said?"

"'Always.'" Oliver could barely hear the whisper.

"So trust me now. Please. Running isn't going to solve the problem. Come back home," Oliver pleaded.

There was a long pause and suddenly Roy had dropped his coffee and burrito and was hugging Oliver almost painfully tight. "I'm sorry. I thought I could go and it wouldn't matter. I thought I could do this, but as bad as things are, I don't want to leave the city. I don't want to leave Thea. I don't want to leave you. I want to go home."

Oliver rubbed his back gently. "Then let's go."

* * *

Note: Although I'm posting this as a completed work, I'm strongly considering continuing it in some way. I haven't watched this week's episode (The Fallen) yet, but it's definitely hard to think of Roy and Oliver going back to the loft and finding Thea's body.


End file.
